Piston and rings therefor



I M..A -C. lHUTCZHINSON. PlsToN Ano muss THEREFGR; uPucATgo-fgle res. 1s. 191e,

y 1,348,998, 'Patented Aug. 10, '19?0.

Cw LINE .Z9-2, F16: l.

UNITED STATES PATENT orifice.

NORTON C. lHU'.l.CH-Il\l'S0l\ T, 0F WOODBURY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG-NQR 0F ONE-HALF T0 LEON BCKW'ALTER, OF MERCHANTVILLE, JERSEY.

Heron AND RINGS THnnEFoR.

To all whom t may concern:

` Be itflmown that I, lMoinoN C..Hnfronin soN, a citizen of .the United States, residing at Woodbury, county of Gloucester, State of New Jersey, have invented anew and useful Piston and Rings Therefoig-oi which j the following is a specification.

`L/Ivwinvention consists of a novel constructionuof a piston and particularly the rings therefor, wherein I employ in con]unction with `the piston body and its `follower a novel assemblage of outer snap ringswhich are transversely split and a pair or solid intermediate bull rings one of the latter being of annular trough shape and the other having spring receiving pockets, said bull rings having their contiguous annular faces juxtaposed and abutting when assembled, said bull rings being held in the desired position with respect to said snap rings by a plurality of springs, whereby said .snap rings cannot become loose byl wear, as said springs provide a permanent adjustment -vention, a portion of said for all of said rings, whereby a tight and ecient piston is produced, insuring a sealed vjoint on the steam side of the snap ring1 lwhich piston can be cheaply manufactured.

and readily assembled or taken' apart for the purpose of inspection or repairs without necessitating 'the employment of skilled labor.

For the purpose of illustrating my invenpreferred by me, since the saine will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instruinentalities of which my invention. consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and oi'- ganization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a novel construction of a :piston and particularly its .packing rings embodying my inpiston and rings being shown in section. Fig. 2 represents on a reduced Vscale a section on line EF1-2 Fig. 1.

Y Fig. 3 represents a perspective View of one oi the bull rings employed in detached".

position'. p Fig. 4 represents a perspective View of one of the snap rings employed in detached position.

Fig. 5; represents a plan view of the other bull ring rshowing the pockets therein.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

Referring to the drawings:

1 designates my novel construction of piston, the same comprising the piston body 2, having the piston flange 3, above which is the piston ring chamber 4. The opposite side of said piston body has a recess 5 therein in which is seated the follower 6, which is held in position by aplurality of fastening devices 7, whose heads are preferably seated in the recesses 8, while the inner portion of said follower is circumferentially recessed, as at 9, for the reception of the contiguous snap ringI 10, the latter being transversely cut as indicated at 11, Fig. Ll, to enable it to be fitted butt to buttwithout fear of animing in the bore of the cylinder (not shown) while working.

There are preferably two of the snap rings employed' as seen in Fig. 1, the lower ring being located in the recess 4 of the piston body contiguous to the fiange 3. The- 6 respectively, the diameter of said portions' 12 further being substantially the saine as the outer peripheral'diameters 1G of the tivo intermediate bull rings 17, whose construction will now be described, and since these rings are functionally substantially the saine, aY description of one will suffice for both.

One of the bull rings 17 has an annular solid trough-shaped body having the annular trough-shaped recess 18, and the annulardnner and outer walls 19 and 20. The o het eistid flat bull rings 22 is in the form of a solid ring and also has the inner and outer walls 19 and 2O and the spring receiving pockets 23, see Fig. 5. When the two bull rings are assembled, the juxtaposed Specification of Letters Patent. Ptgnted Aug, 10, 1920. VApplication tiled February 13,'f1918. Serial-Nvo. 216,904.

faces of the inner and outer annular walls abut, as i'ndicatedin Fig. l. .In the spring receiving pockets 23 formed between said Walls 19 and 2l), I locate a plurality of springs 2l, it being apparent that the nuinloer of said pockets and springs may be inci'eased or diminished according to requirements, as will be understood from Fig. 2, whereon I have shown eight thereof, which number I have found to give very satisfactory results in practice.

The manner of assembling the snap rings and the solid bull rinlgs `with respect to the piston and its follower will be understood from Fig. 1, the two outer snap rings being located in the recesses 4 and 5), and the two bull rings being located between said snap rings, one of the latter being contiguous to the piston. fiange 3, thereby insuring a sealed joint on the steam side of a snap ring. Special attention is directed to the fact that the principle of my invention differs from piston rings commoiilyemployed'since my snap rings are `not forced by internal spring pressure or mechanically against the cylinder wall, the advantages of which will be apparent. l

It will be--obvious that my novel construction of piston-can be cheaply made, as the accuracy required Ain fitting'the rings in a groove is obviated as only smooth surfaces are required.

It will further be obvious to those skilled in the art that the snap rings cannot become loose by Wear as the tension of the springs 21 against` the bull. rings provides for permanent adjustment of the enacting parts. -i A lVhile'I have shown two snap rings as being employed, it will be apparent that additional snap rings may be employed, if desired.

-It will furtherbe' apparent to those skilled in the art, that by cutting away the snap rings .for a part of their depth, as indicated at V12, whereby the annular portions Vl2 and 13 are formed of different diameters` I allow acting or initial steam to balance pressure which must be latent back cf the rings in high vpressure and middle pressure cyliii ders, which feature may be omitted in pistons for low pressure cylinders.

It will be obvious that my j'iiovel construc.

tion -of piston may be employed to advantagenot only in steam engines, but in internal combustion engiiies or engine cylin- 'd ers of any character wherein fluid or gas of any ch'z'iracter is ciiiployedto reciprocate the piston. a It will further beseen from thcforegoing that by the eiiiployinent of thersolid bull ringsland 22 whose. inner annular walls scat-upon thc-piston body and whose outer periphery is of sul-'istantially llic saine or a little less than th'c cylinder diameter or bore,

in conjunction with the snap rings 10, lall of said rings whose walls are contiguous being rectilinear and parallel as are also the contiguous walls of'the piston flange and follower flange, I have produced a device which can be cheaply machined, since there are no L or T shaped grooves or dovetails present and furthermore the direction of th'el In pistons of the prior' art, which are commonly employed, with whichV I am veryl familiar, 1t is commonly the practice tof force the snap rings against the Ecylinder wall by springs or mechanical devices exerting an internal pressure outwardly on' the piston rings or against juxtaposed oblique walls of contiguous ring sections or, the like. The. principle of my invention is exactly opposite, since myl invention is designed to prevent the snap rings from being forced mechanically or otherwise too hardag'ainst the cylinder wall, and since the side Walls of the snap rings and the contiguous walls with which they abut are rectilinear and extend 'at a right .angle to the direction of travel of the piston, the outer working p eiipheries 13 of said rings can automatically adjust themselves with respect to the contiguous bore of the cylinder, it being apparent that the tension of the springs 21 causes the solid'bull rings and snap rings to assinne at all times the proper position relative to each other and to the piston body and follower.

It will now be apparent thatv I have devised a novel and useful construction of a piston and rings therefor which embodies lthe features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the inventionl and the above description, and, while I have, in the present instance, shown and described a' preferred embodiment thereof which Will give 'in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without depai'tingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. Y

Having thus described my inventiony what I claim as new and desire to secure loyL'etters Patent, is: r

1. In a piston, a body havingian outer periphci'al flange' and a follower having its outer portion also provided with a'fiange,

the chamber between said Aflanges containing a pliiralityof outer snap rings transversely cut, said snap ringshaving their peripheral portions ot'dil'crcnt diameters, solid -biill rings located between said snap'rings, and hai-ing their outer diameters-substantially conC-Jcu with the Gutes* diamecrs o" said angc am?, follower and the. of said Simp ngsE said bull rings cons ting of n solidmmular tjougy'shaped ring; and second ring having Hai; annular was and spring holding pockets, said sod bull rings hmfng the contiguous Walls abutng, und u phn'aity of sprngslcaed in Said pokefs for pressing said uuu rings out waidly against said Snap ngs $0 provfle permanent adjustment for' sam. rings.

'In a piston, a body having an outerperpnerz ange4g 'L1 ouower having outer portion also provife'dwt-h an outez' El-ange, and a plurality 0f snap rings and sod 011B rings contane n the chamber between said anges, said. snap rings Ewing sut, and one' pieton 'emgge, a portion ,01 the mm /ip'zr- 25 ery o each of said Snap ngs bum; n nzx'a'y so tm said snap rings haw derent dazmetexs, said bull ring; being; heated uf-.- w'sn .Saidsnup diggs and one ffhefeo m3- ing mf zumuu' trough-Shape while the other of saf bull rings has zt annular wams and spring receiving pockets, .Quid buil rg nbutng Shea exsiembleda and Sprng ca in said pocket. lnezmdiata @f bu to' wf 'um 'intim' ontw" l limsi Said fsm Thigh" uby prv'mx yernmnen adjus'rnent @zo ih-at said rngr, Camini; mamme 100x-e by Wear.

' MORTO?? C. H UJHESON. Witnessea: A

E. HAwARD Emma-mis,

LEON LUCKWALTER, 

